Mumbai: The BSE Sensex Monday crashed over 495 points and the NSE Nifty shed more than 158 points as macroeconomic worries resurfaced following reports that US will end sanctions waiver on Iranian oil imports.
The 30-share BSE index settled 495.10 points, or 1.26 per cent, lower at 38,645.18; while the broader NSE Nifty tumbled 158.35 points, or 1.35 per cent, to close at 11,594.45.
Reacting to reports on Iran sanctions, global benchmark Brent crude climbed to a multi-month high of USD 73.81 per barrel, a 2.56 per cent rise.
As a result, the Indian rupee weakened by 28 paise to 69.63 against the US dollar intra-day. Besides, a mixed start of quarterly earnings by corporates led to subdued market sentiments.
"Indian markets had a rough day on the back of sharp rise in crude oil price above USD 74 per barrel. As a significant importer of crude oil, the high oil price is not good for Indian macros," said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, Sr VP and Head of Research (Wealth), Centrum Broking.
According to a report, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to announce that as of May 2, the State Department will no longer grant sanctions waivers to any country that is currently importing Iranian crude or condensate.
China and India are currently the largest importers of Iranian oil. If they don't go along with Trump's demands, that could cause tensions in both bilateral relationships and spill over into other issues, like trade, the report said.
In the Sensex pack, Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank and RIL were the biggest losers, dropping up to 6.78 per cent; followed by ICICI Bank, HDFC twins, Hero MotoCorp, Axis Bank, Maruti, Vedanta, ONGC, M&M, Sun Pharma, Kotak Bank and Tata Steel, down up to 2.20 per cent. While, bucking weak market trend, Bharti Airtel, TCS, Infosys, NTPC and PowerGrid ended in the green, rising up to 0.89 per cent.
